Love is the Best Motive
by ProfessionalCatFan
Summary: Dangan Island AU. Tired of the school trip going ahead with absolutely no death and despair, Monokuma steals Usami's magic stick. The motive he gives everyone is simple: love. With the power of the magic stick, the Ultimates are falling in love with Hajime, their feelings growing more intense every day. Will Hajime survive his increasingly possessive admirers?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello, everyone! :) This is the first chapter to my first Dangan Ronpa fanfic (though, not to say I haven't written fanfics before. I've actually written quite a few before on a different account!) I hope I'll keep everyone relatively in character, but please tell me if I make mistakes._

_I get the feeling this fic will probably run more on comedy than actual plot. Whoops? XD_

_I'll just say this now: in the narration everyone will be referred to as their first names, but with dialog I'll be using the last names and honorifics used in the original Japanese dub. If this ends up being too weird or confusing then I'll change it ^^'_

_I ended up using 'Ultimate' instead of 'SHSL' for some reason... Probably because I've been watching NicoB's let's play. I've grown used to the English dub because of it XD_

_Well, enough of my babbling. I hope you all enjoy what will end up being a very strange fanfic. :)_

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><p>The past few days had been peaceful—well, as peaceful as things could be on Jabberwock Island—and that seemed to be reason enough for celebration. Hajime wasn't sure why, though. Peace was nice, of course it was, but was their situation really so bad that they had to throw a party just because nothing had gone wrong?<p>

The party was suggested by Usami, who had appeared during the usual morning meet up in a happier mood than usual. It was rare for everyone to get through a week without anything strange happening, usually due to Nagito's luck, Mikan's clumsiness, Hiyoko's pranks or Monokuma just trying to cause trouble (or, as one unfortunate day proved, all four at once and more), and Usami seemed convinced that a party was needed to celebrate this unusual event. Besides, everyone was getting along so well and doing such a good job of collecting hope fragments, the rabbit had told them, that a party would surely be the best sort of reward for all their hard work.

There were no objections, Sonia and Ibuki seeming the most excited. The party would be held in the restaurant, the place they usually met up, and with one wave of her magic stick Usami filled the room with streamers and balloons. Teruteru went to prepare the food and Ibuki dived out the restaurant while promising to set up some entertainment, and everyone decided that the party would officially start after the night-time announcement.

So there they were, talking, laughing, eating and, in Ibuki's case, screaming loudly into a microphone as if they were all perfectly normal teenagers on a perfectly normal island on a perfectly normal school trip. Hajime shook his head, leaning against one of the tables as he took a sip from a glass of orange juice. He didn't think he would ever understand how everyone else managed to relax and have fun no matter what was thrown at them. Maybe Nagito's paranoia was rubbing off on him, but wouldn't celebrating the fact that nothing had gone wrong make it even more likely for something to happen?

It was then Hajime realised that the chatter in the restaurant was devoid of a certain someone's hopeful ramblings. He craned his neck to look over the sea of his classmates; there wasn't even a glimpse of a mess of white hair, and Hajime frowned. Nagito was nice, if pretty damn strange, and had also been a good source of hope fragments, but there was something about him that made Hajime think leaving him to his own devices wasn't always the best idea.

He turned to the closest person he could find, which happened to be Kazuichi. Sonia and Gundham were talking to each other quite happily at the other side of the room, and Kazuichi seemed only a few seconds away from running over there and pushing them apart.

"Hey," Hajime said, tapping Kazuichi's shoulder and somehow managing to get his attention away from Sonia. "Have you seen Komaeda anywhere?"

Kazuichi seemed a little irritated at being interrupted, though when he actually heard Hajime's question he looked almost surprised. "What, didn't you hear? A tree fell while he was walking past for some reason and he got hit. Tsumiki's pretty much put him under house arrest until he gets better."

"Wh—? A _tree_?"

"Yeah, but don't worry," Kazuichi said, shrugging. "He just sprained his ankle. Besides that he wasn't injured at all. Don't ask me how that makes sense because I don't know either."

Hajime didn't know why he was even surprised. Still, at least this meant he didn't have to worry about what Nagito was up to, since he wouldn't go against the words of the Ultimate Nurse while injured, though it was unlucky for him that he had to miss the party. Hajime wondered if he should check on him later to make sure he wasn't dying of boredom.

He had taken too long to reply again and so Kazuichi had returned to spying on Sonia. Hajime decided to leave him to it, not wanting to be part of the eventual argument that would involve a lot of yelling and hamster bites. Instead he gave the party one more inspection. Akane and Byakuya were both by the food table, Mahiru was keeping a careful eye on Hiyoko to make sure she didn't torment Mikan who was dithering in a corner, Peko and Nekomaru were discussing something most likely about training regimes, and Ibuki had somehow convinced Fuyukiko and Teruteru to join her on the 'stage,' resulting in two of the most reluctant backup dancers Hajime had ever seen. All in all, the party was going well.

It occurred to Hajime that he couldn't see Chiaki anywhere. He had seen her playing on the arcade machine downstairs when he was walking to the party, and when he asked if she would be going up to the restaurant she said she just wanted to finish one more level and that she would join them all later. Was she still down there? It wasn't unusual for Chiaki to lose track of time while playing video games; he should probably go remind her about the party before she ended up missing the whole thing.

He would never get the chance, however. Before Hajime could even move, there was a black and white blur from out the corner of his eye. A familiar bear was stood on the table when he turned.

"Oh? What do we have here? A party?" Monokuma cackled. "Pretty boring party if you ask me. Too much sappy friendship and hope. Where's the excitement?"

Hajime tensed, feeling an unshakable sense of unease. Usually Monokuma was nothing more than an easy to ignore annoyance, but today there was obvious malicious intent.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone guarded.

"Me?" Monokuma tilted his head, as if confused. "I live on this island too, you know. You were all having this party and didn't even think to invite me…" He wiped away an imaginary tear. "That makes me a sad bear… Ever since that stupid rabbit defeated me you guys have all treated me like some pest. Well, that—!"

Monokuma froze. He seemed to have realised that the only one actually paying attention to him was Hajime. No one else had even noticed him, unable to hear him over the laughter and Ibuki's music.

"See? See?!" Monokuma yelled, and Hajime wondered if he should follow everyone else's example and just ignore him. "I used to be feared, you know! People wouldn't even look at me funny because they knew that I could easily punish them. Now look at me! I'm just some ignored piece of decoration that no one even bothers to invite to their parties!"

_Is he really that upset just because no one invited him...?_ Hajime thought.

"But that ends now!" Monokuma continued, and as he said this he held something high above his head. The sight was rather ridiculous but it was one that made Hajime realise he should probably start worrying. In Monokuma's grasp was Usami's magic stick.

He remembered the way Usami had once turned a chicken into a cow using the magic stick and took an involuntary step back. A slightly panicked part of his brain told him to call out to the others so that they could see Monokuma was currently wielding a possible weapon of mass destruction.

"Why do you have that?" Hajime asked, desperately hoping someone would just turn around and notice the talking bear. Monokuma wasn't even being discrete.

"I snuck it out of Usami's house while she was in the shower." Monokuma's tone gained an almost dangerous edge, and he spoke again before Hajime could even question why a stuffed rabbit needed to take showers.

"In a way, this school trip hasn't been a complete waste of time," Monokuma said, pointing the stick forward like a sword. "After all, it's given me a lot of time to think. I had a whole bunch of motives planned to get you all to kill each other, some personal, some more along the lines of locking you in a tower with no food or water until someone dies, but I've scrapped them all now. I don't care about class trials and executions anymore! I just want to see blood and chaos! I want to see despair! And I have the perfect way to get it. Now then, Hinata-kun... You're really plain, you know that? Completely boring."

Hajime could only glare in response.

"Absolutely ordinary, especially compared to the rest of these guys. You're like the protagonist of every anime ever." Monokuma's eye gleamed red. "Say, for example, a harem anime."

"...Wait, what?"

"A harem anime!" Monokuma laughed. "Where the boring, unassuming guy gets everyone to fall for him! You're perfect for that sort of situation! And we're on a tropical island right now—wouldn't you say that's the best sort of setting?"

Monokuma began to wave the magic stick, a bright pink glow shining from the gem on top. Hajime probably would have laughed at the scene, a small stuffed bear holding what looked like a children's toy, if it wasn't for the fact that he had every reason to fear for his life.

Behind him, the party had grown quiet, the noise replaced by gasps and concerned murmurs. It seemed everyone else had noticed the pink light and, by extension, Monokuma using Usami's magic stick—_finally_, Hajime thought dryly.

"From now on," Monokuma said, holding the glowing stick up high, staring Hajime dead in the eye, "every person you see in this room will slowly start to fall in love with you, Hinata-kun. Their love will grow more and more every day." He chuckled, a low, evil sound. "I wonder what'll happen first. Will they kill each other out of jealousy? Or will they grow so obsessed with you that they'll end up ripping you to shreds? Upupupu... I can't wait to find out!"

There was a flash of pink light before Hajime could even yell. He wasn't sure what to expect—pain, burning, or at least _something_—but besides the need to shield his eyes from the light, Hajime couldn't say he felt any different. When the light cleared he turned from the expectant bear to his classmates; though they seemed a little confused as to what was going on and why Monokuma was interrupting the party, they looked perfectly fine. There was not a single expression of obsessive love to be seen, and they definitely weren't trying to kill each other as Monokuma had said.

Monokuma seemed to notice the lack of anything happening. He tapped at the end of the magic stick as if it were nothing more than a faulty light bulb, looking genuinely confused.

"So..." Monokuma said to his silent audience. "Looks like a fun party you've got here! Mind if I join in—?"

Hajime would have loved to kick the damn bear out of the restaurant, and it was clear that his friends were having similar thoughts, but it was then that Usami appeared from seemingly nowhere, tackling Monokuma off the table and snatching the magic stick from him while he was caught off guard.

"Why are you here?" Hajime could hear Usami as the two plushies fought on the floor. "I told you to leave my students alone! You even took my magic stick—just what were you planning?"

"Gah! Nothing! I wasn't planning anything!" Monokuma yelped, being repeatedly hit with the magic stick. This bizarre scene was at first met with confused silence, but eventually a few members of the crowd must have decided it wasn't worth their time and went back to the party. Soon only a few of Hajime's classmates remained to watch the 'battle,' Hiyoko laughing her head off and Ibuki cheering Usami on.

"Hey, Hinata." Hajime turned to see Fuyuhiko, who was still staring at the fighting forms of Usami and Monokuma with a mix of amusement and bewilderment. "What the fuck was that all about? Monokuma had that stick and... what did he say? We're going to fall in love with...?" Fuyuhiko seemed to be having trouble comprehending what had happened.

"Ignore him," Hajime said in a way that was a lot more cheerful than he felt. "He was trying to pull some prank but it didn't work. There's not much point in worrying about it."

After a few seconds of thought, Fuyuhiko seemed to accept Hajime's answer. With an, "Okay, fine," he turned back to the rest of the party; Hajime saw him heading towards Peko.

Hajime sighed. Even though Monokuma's 'plan,' if it could even be called that, had failed completely, he wasn't in the mood for partying anymore. He was starting to get a headache, though that could easily be because of the noise. It would probably be a good idea for him to return to his cottage and sleep.

With one last glance around the restaurant, Hajime shook his head and made his way down the stairs.

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><p><em>—Chapter end.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

_I have to say, I'm surprised by how many people seem to like this! :) Eight reviews for only the first chapter? Thank you! ^0^_

_I thought it would be a good idea to update at least once before I fall into the habit of not updating for weeks on end and then randomly coming back with a new chapter and then vanishing again, like I do with all my other fanfics. Unfortunately it's more of a short filler chapter, but I guess it's better than nothing? ^^'_

_Well, anyway, I hope this chapter ends up being okay :)_

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><p>The rest of the night was uneventful, almost unnaturally so. After leaving the party, Hajime found a bleary eyed Chiaki stumbling away from the arcade machine, obviously having only just woken up. She looked at Hajime worriedly.<p>

"Did... did I miss the party?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes.

"You feel asleep while you were playing that game, didn't you?" Chiaki's defensively annoyed expression quickly answered that question for him. "No, you didn't miss it. I'm just a little tired so I'm going back to my cottage," Hajime said, not wanting to explain just what had left him so mentally exhausted.

Chiaki seemed disappointed to hear this, but she headed towards the stairs regardless and Hajime made his way outside. The night air was cool, but not uncomfortably so, and Hajime walked to the cottages without a single distraction or problem. The only sound to be heard was Ibuki's music blaring in the distance.

Hajime paid a quick visit to Nagito before returning to his cottage, partly to make sure he was all right and partly to make sure he was still actually there. Nagito was reading one of the books he had borrowed from the library, his leg propped up as he lay in bed. He seemed more than happy to get a visitor, if a little surprised. They talked for a few minutes, about how Nagito was disappointed he couldn't join everyone at the party ("but this misfortune will definitely lead to some good luck!") and about the unlikely odds of what had been a sturdy tree falling on him in the first place. Hajime then bid him 'goodnight' and left for his own cottage, collapsing on his bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

The next morning was sunny as usual. Hajime woke up to the sound of the morning announcement with a grumble, wanting for all the world to just roll over and go back to sleep. He knew, however, that at least a few people would get annoyed with him if he skipped out on gathering materials, so Hajime reluctantly climbed out of bed and got ready for the day.

They would all usually meet up at the restaurant in the morning to assign each other different areas; when Hajime walked inside he was surprised to find the room was clean. Maybe not devoid of mess, but it definitely didn't seem like the restaurant had been the site of a party run by teenagers. He shrugged to himself and decided Usami must have had something to do with it, and he sat down at a table to eat breakfast with the people who were already there.

He was slowly joined by the rest of his classmates, some happy and ready for the day, some looking close to sleep walking and only managing to say a mumbled, "Good morning." The only one not present was Nagito, Mikan having said he needed bed rest for at least a few more days as she left to take him some food.

Hajime gave his friends a cautious glance. Everyone was acting normal, all talking and eating as they would any other day. Nothing out of the ordinary. He smiled and let himself relax. Monokuma's plan' had failed. There was nothing to worry about.

It was when everyone was nearly finished with their food that locations were assigned. Hajime was told to search the beach for materials, a relatively simple area he would have gone to with no complaints had Kazuichi not stopped him while everyone was leaving.

"Hey, Hinata, what place did you get?" Kazuichi asked in a way that really wasn't subtle.

"The beach. Why?"

"No reason," he lied. "Just... do you think we could swap? I got the mountains, and..."

Hajime sighed, but he found there wasn't much point in arguing. Kazuichi would just complain if he said no, so he gave a half hearted smile and nodded.

"Thanks," Kazuichi said, grinning—then he frowned.

"Uh... hey." Kazuichi looked confused. "Did you do something to your... everything?" He gestured, as if that would help convey what he was trying to say just a little better. "You look kind of different."

Hajime would have laughed at the awkward phrasing if Kazuichi hadn't seemed so genuinely puzzled. "No, I haven't done anything, and I'm pretty sure I look the same as always."

"Oh. A-are you sure? I mean, your hair looks much nicer today, and your face—" Kazuichi stopped himself. "Um, er, never mind. Thanks for swapping!" he said quickly before hurrying out of the restaurant, leaving behind a very confused Hajime.

Hajime felt a slight stab of worry, remembering Monokuma's words from the night before, but he told himself that he was just being stupid. Only one person had said anything remotely strange so far, and that person was _Kazuichi_. The mechanic wasn't exactly a model for normal behaviour.

But the anxiety wouldn't fade no matter how much he tried to fight it. As if to block the thought of Monokuma's mocking words he started his way to the mountain area at a pace too fast to be considered calm.

_No one's falling in love with me, _Hajime told himself. _If anyone else starts acting weird then I can worry, but that's not going to happen. It's not. _

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><p><em>—Chapter end.<br>_


	3. Chapter 3

_Another update, yay! I never thought that so many people would like this fic. It's just meant to be a silly comedy story I can write whenever I have spare time, you know? XD Though, with so many people complimenting this story I'm starting to get a little nervous. I don't want to disappoint everyone, but I can't stop thinking that I'll end up doing just that. ^^' _

_I tried writing Mikan and Gundham in this chapter, and I hope they are relatively in character. :) I'm kind of dreading having to write Nagito later—not because I dislike him, he's actually my favourite character, but because he's so damn complicated that I just know I'm going to mess up with him somehow. XD_

_Well, on with the story. ^0^_

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><p>It was time, Hajime decided, to start worrying.<p>

After managing to push his conversation with Kazuichi to the furthest corners of his mind, Hajime had busied himself with collecting materials. At least, he would have had the mountain area not been oddly devoid of anything beyond a few flowers. He probably would have found more if he tried actually climbing the mountain, but Hajime couldn't muster the energy or courage and had to give up, heading down the few rocks he had climbed with disappointment.

As it turned out, trying to climb down while one hand was clutching a pair of flowers was not the best idea. The already unsteady surface shifted, Hajime stumbled, flailed, and fell to his hands and knees. One of the rocks he had grabbed to break his fall must have been sharper than he thought, as when he looked a long but rather shallow cut stretched across the palm of his hand.

"H-Hinata-san, are you all right?!" a voice called before he even had a chance to register the pain. He turned his head to see Mikan running towards him, her face a picture of worry.

"I'm fine, Tsumiki," Hajime said in a reassuring tone, getting to his feet. By this point the cut was bleeding; Mikan noticed almost immediately.

"Ahhh, you're hurt!" She grabbed at Hajime's hand in a way that would have been forceful if it wasn't Mikan, and she quickly examined the wound. "I-I need to treat this. The hospital's nearby—Don't worry, I'll take you there!"

Hajime's complaints were ignored as Mikan all but dragged him to the third island's hospital. She was overreacting, surely, but nothing would deter the nurse and Hajime found himself giving up his arguments rather easily. Besides, his hand was really starting to hurt, and having Mikan tend to the cut couldn't be a bad idea.

And so Hajime soon found himself at the hospital, trying not to fidget too much in his seat as Mikan slowly bandaged his hand, the flowers left on a nearby table. Before this she had insisted on cleaning and even disinfecting the wound, and Hajime would have loved to say he hadn't yelled or squeaked in pain at all throughout the experience.

Mikan finished wrapping the bandage, looking over her work with a relieved and somewhat accomplished smile. Hajime decided this meant he was allowed his hand back and pulled his arm back. He could see the bandage had been wrapped in a professional and clean way that could only come from an immense amount of practice—definitely not something he could have done by himself.

"Thank you," he told her earnestly, and before she could panic he continued with, "You really helped me out. I was lucky you were nearby."

"O-oh?" Mikan seemed surprised by his words, her expression turning embarrassed. "Well, I wouldn't say it was luck. I was looking for you, and I saw you fall over, so..."

"You..." Hajime blinked. "You were looking for me?"

"Yes, that's right." Mikan nodded, a little thoughtful as she spoke. "I don't know how to describe it, but after we left to go find materials I felt like I really wanted to see you."

"Oh. I see."

He must have looked more troubled than he thought; Mikan flinched away from him suddenly.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" she stammered. "I should have known—I don't have a right to think about you! I'm sorry! P-please don't hate me—!"

"I don't hate you!" Hajime interrupted, maybe a little too forcefully. "I mean... I'm sorry. I've, um, had a lot on my mind today. But I'm not angry with you or anything."

"Really...?" Mikan looked unconvinced.

"Of course." Hajime's gaze drifted to the flowers on the table. "I… I should probably go. I need to take those to the restaurant. I'll see you later, okay?"

Leaving Mikan while she was convinced she had committed some unforgivable crime wasn't a good idea, that much was obvious from her tear-filled eyes, but Hajime felt he was one strange event away from panicking. At the restaurant, when they were given their individual locations, everyone knew Hajime was going to search the beach. Everyone had left when Kazuichi asked to switch, so that should have meant only Kazuichi knew where he was. How, then, had Mikan ended up at the mountains? If she was looking for him she would have gone straight to the beach. Had Kazuichi told her? Or had she been searching all over the islands, only happening to stumble upon him?

Mikan would also sometimes act strangely, but now there were two people who had shown unusual behaviour since Monkuma used the magic stick and Hajime felt that was two too many. Maybe he was being paranoid over nothing, maybe Mikan was just being nice, but he didn't want to dismiss an incident as _nothing_ only for it to turn out to be _something_.

Usami would probably be at the restaurant; he decided it would be a good idea to talk to her. Surely their self-proclaimed teacher would know if something was happening, and even if Monokuma's plan was working she could just use her magic stick to stop it, right?

He hurried towards the restaurant, focusing on the act of running to keep his anxieties out of mind and squeezing the flowers in his hand. By the time he was half way there Hajime felt a little more optimistic. He hadn't run into anyone else, his classmates most likely still collecting materials, and the lack of anything unusual happening let him think that maybe there really was nothing to worry about. It was suddenly very easy to wonder if what had happened with Monokuma had caused him to simply misinterpret everything through paranoia. Even if that wasn't the case, everything would be fine as long as he made it to the restaurant.

"Ah, Hinata."

Hajime stumbled to a stop and turned his head. Stood to the side, arms folded and a hamster peering out from his billowing scarf, was Gundham Tanaka. He approached Hajime, staring at him silently.

"Tanaka?" Hajime tried not to sigh. He generally liked talking to Gundham but at the moment he just didn't have the time. "I'm kind of busy right now, so—"

"What manner of sorcery are you casting?" Gundham interrupted, his tone suspicious.

"Huh?" Though Hajime sounded confused, he already had an idea of where this conversation was going. _Please don't…_

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Gundham continued loudly. "I thought it was strange. Your aura—no, your _appearance _seemed much more atrocious this morning. I dismissed it initially, but now I find you _dare_ to invade my thoughts. No matter how hard I try to focus on the mortal task set by that rabbit, you always return." He looked as if he was examining Hajime, forming a defensive stance as he spoke. "Could it be? Have you awakened to a hellish power on par with my own? Do you plan to enslave us all?"

"Of course not." Hajime didn't know what else to say, his voice sounding almost tired. It seemed that with every person he spoke to it grew more and more difficult to pretend nothing was wrong. "Like I said, I'm busy right now. We can talk later."

Gundham's eyes seemed to light up upon hearing the last part, but he caught himself and chuckled lowly after a moment of slight confusion. "So you are retreating? A wise move. Very well, I will allow you to flee. After all, no matter how powerful you may now be you will never be a match for the Tanaka Empire!" He began laughing loudly, but by this point Hajime had already started walking away.

It seemed that while Kazuichi, Mikan and Gundham were showing a few typical signs of a crush, they themselves seemed unaware of the fact they were falling in love. In a way, that was a bit of consolation for Hajime. Just as Monokuma had said, whatever he had done was slow acting; there was still time to stop it before things got too bad. He could end this whole fiasco while everyone's dignity was still intact.

An eternity seemed to pass before Hajime finally found himself climbing the stairs of the restaurant. The flowers he had collected looked limp and pathetic, and a few petals fell off when he dropped them on a table.

"Usami!" he called to the empty restaurant. "I need to talk to you!"

"Here I am!" Usami appeared from seemingly nowhere, magic stick in hand as she landed on the table. "Hinata-kun, you're finished early today."

"I couldn't really find much," Hajime admitted, gesturing to the flowers with disappointment.

"Oh? Well, that's a shame, but it doesn't matter. After all, there's always tomorrow!"

"I guess." Hajime realised the conversation wasn't even close to what he really wanted to talk about and shook his head. "Hey, I need your help."

"Really?" Usami stood in a prouder manner, looking oddly happy. "Well, as your teacher of course you should come to me for help. What's the matter? Is it homework?"

"No," Hajime said. "Monokuma used your magic stick last night and now everyone's slowly falling in love with me. He wants everyone to go crazy with love and jealousy so that they'll start killing each other."

For a moment, Usami was silent.

"Wh-_what_?!" she gasped, horrified. "I-I know he had the stick last night, but how… He shouldn't have the authority to use the magic stick. He can't use it," Usami said, as if she was trying to convince himself.

"Well, obviously he _can_ use it because it's working. But you can stop it, right?"

"I…" Usami started, and Hajime didn't like how unsure she sounded. "I-I can try… I mean, I can probably… Um…"

"'Probably.'" There was no point in denying it. Hajime was completely and utterly doomed.

When she spoke next Usami tried sound more confident. "Don't worry, Hinata-kun! Your teacher has this under control!" she lied. "Since you've finished collecting materials for the day you have a lot of free time now, right? You should just relax and have fun." With that, Usami disappeared beneath the floorboards before she could be questioned further.

Hajime stood there for a while. He didn't know what to do. It hadn't occurred to him that Usami wouldn't be able to solve the situation, and now he found himself without any other plan.

Usami had told him not to worry, but what else could he do besides that?

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><p><em>—Chapter end.<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_Merry Christmas, everyone! I had some trouble writing this chapter, but here I am with another update! XD_

_Remember how I said I was dreading writing Komaeda? Well, I found another character I have no idea how to portray: Chiaki. I was completely stuck on what to make her say. Heck, how do I portray any of these characters? DX_

_Well, on with the story._

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><p>With the reality and sheer ridiculousness of his situation crashing down on him at full force, Hajime decided it would be best to lock himself in his cottage until he managed to collect his thoughts and think of a plan. Unfortunately, pacing around the room while thinking, <em>"What the hell am I supposed to do?" <em>did not seem to be the best way to think of a solution, and eventually Hajime slumped down onto his bed, his head low.

The only other plan he could think of was to get Monokuma to turn everything back to normal, and Hajime was pretty damn certain that had an even lower chance of success than asking Usami. Monokuma wanted to cause murder, despair, and he wasn't going to stop his insane plan just because Hajime asked nicely.

Hajime decided, sighing, that locking himself inside and worrying for the rest of the day wouldn't solve anything. He didn't like the idea of just sitting around and waiting for the worst case scenario to hit him. It was too soon to give up, after all.

Going for a walk seemed like a good idea—the fresh air would help clear his head, and at the very least Hajime would feel like he was being productive. Now with something to do, Hajime stood up and made his way to the door.

After walking aimlessly for a few moments, Hajime found himself at the ranch. The cow that had once been a chicken was grazing in its usual place like any normal cow would, and it paid Hajime no mind as he wandered past it.

A crash and a series of swears came from the left, and Hajime turned to see a clearly furious Fuyuhiko, glaring as he dusted himself off and stumbled to his feet. Various materials were scattered along the ground; Hajime could only assume Fuyuhiko had been carrying them back to the restaurant but tripped and dropped them.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to fucking help me with this?" Fuyhiko had noticed Hajime's stare as he knelt down to pick up everything he had dropped, and Hajime, deciding to forget about his Monokuma related problems for a second, sheepishly hurried forward to collect the fallen materials. Fuyuhiko seemed to have found much more than him today, a wide range of flowers and grass and some odd things that Hajime couldn't identify. They agreed to both carry the materials, and they started on their way to the restaurant in silence.

Though he tried not to notice, Hajime knew that Fuyuhiko was staring at him. He wasn't being completely obvious, simply looking at Hajime for a few seconds at a time and turning away when he felt his gaze had lingered too long, but the reason for his stares was clear. Hajime sighed inwardly.

"Hey, Hinata..." Fuyuhiko finally said. "You look, um, different today."

"I've been told."

"Did you do something to your... face?"

"No."

"Really?" Fuyuhiko seemed confused. "But you're— I mean you look really—" He shook his head. "Forget it..."

Hajime had to admit, he was starting to feel a little bad for Fuyuhiko. The yakuza heir obviously had no idea why he was suddenly attracted to Hajime, and if Monokuma's words were true then it was only going to get worse.

An idea came to him, and Hajime began to wonder how plausible of an idea it was. As far as he was aware, hardly anyone had paid attention to Monokuma at the party besides himself. While everyone had probably heard a few bits and pieces of Monokuma's 'make everyone fall in love with Hajime' threat, it seemed Hajime was the only one to hear the whole thing and now understood what was happening. So, what if he told everyone about Monokuma's plan? It would let them realise that whatever they were feeling was fake, and even if that didn't stop the problem completely they could try to consciously fight their change in emotions. Maybe that would buy them more time. Hajime was surprised he hadn't thought of this before.

"Kuzuryuu,do you remember what happened last night?" he asked, turning to Fuyuhiko, but before he had a chance to continue another voice came from behind.

"Kuzuryuu!" It was Kazuichi, sounding more than a little nervous. He had hurried forward and was now walking at their pace. It might have been his imagination, but Kazuichi seemed to be trying his hardest to avoid Hajime's gaze. "I'm glad I ran into you. Can we talk?" He glanced towards Hajime, and his cheeks took on a slight pink tone. "Um, alone?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm busy right now," Fuyuhiko said, nodding towards his armful of materials.

"Yeah, but... Please? Something weird's going on and I really _really _need to talk to someone about this."

After a few seconds of silence and pleading stares from Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko relented with a sigh. "This better be important," he muttered, and he pushed his materials into Hajime's already full arms, ignoring his squawk of indignation.

"How am I supposed to carry all of this back?" In response, Hajime only received an apologetic, _"Well what else am I supposed to do?" _look from Fuyuhiko. With that, Kazuichi all but dragged Fuyuhiko somewhere in the opposite direction of the restaurant, and Hajime was left to to his increasingly difficult struggle of not dropping any of the items. He gritted his teeth and trudged forwards.

With arms weary arms, once Hajime arrived at the restuarant he dropped everything onto the nearest table he could find, not caring if anything delicate could break. He was so relieved at having somehow made it inside without losing everything that he didn't even realise he wasn't alone.

"Oh, Hinata-kun." Chiaki was sat at the other side of the room, looking up from handheld game console. "You finished early."

"Yeah," Hajime said, unable to keep a wary tone out of his voice. "Are you the only one here?"

"Yep. I wanted to wait for everyone to get back," Chiaki said, and her attention immediately fell back to her game, surprising Hajime. That was nothing like how the others had been acting.

"Hey, Nanami," Hajime started slowly, "do I look any different to you?"

Chiaki looked up at him again, squinting as if trying to find a genuine answer to that question. She tilted her head.

"Is your hair supposed to be more spikey?"

"No, it isn't." Hajime stared at her, feeling a growing yet tentative sense of relief. "You're not falling in love with me."

She blinked, obviously confused, but Hajime was too deep in thought to explain his words. Chiaki seemed unaffected by Monokuma's spell. Of course, there was always the possibility that the spell affected some people slower than others, but Hajime was willing to grasp at whatever good news he could find. Why, then, didn't it work on Chiaki? She had gone to the party like everyone else—

Hajime remembered Monokuma's words: _"Every person in this room will slowly start to fall in love with you." _Did that literally mean that only the people who were in the room at the time were falling for him? After all, Chiaki had been downstairs, fast asleep, when Monokuma enacted his plan, and now she was the only one Hajime had seen so far who was acting as she usually did.

It seemed Hajime had found a loophole, a flaw, in Monokuma's plan. Anyone who wasn't in the room was not affected by Monokuma's spell. Hajime smiled to himself. If this was true, it was reassurring to know he would have some help in this situation.

"Nanami," he said, "I need your help."

* * *

><p>—<em>Chapter end.<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_The process for writing this chapter involved staring at a blank Word document for a few hours and occasionally writing a word or two. If the writing seems a little awkward at times… that's why XD_

_It took me a little longer than usual to update because I had some mock exams last week. They're over now, but that just leads me into worrying about the real super important exams I'll have to take in summer XD_

_The chapter was going very uneventfully at first, so a wild Ibuki appeared! :D We also get a bit of Nagito in this chapter; let's hope I don't end up destroying his character ^^' Then again, I'm also worried that my portrayal of Ibuki might be a little off… and Chiaki, for that matter. And Hajime. Please, please, please tell me if I start writing them out-of-character XD_

_Now then, let us continue with this strange fanfic! _

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><p>Chiaki listened to Hajime's story with a calm expression, silent as she stared at him from across the table, and when he was finished explaining how everyone he had met was indeed falling in love with him she looked down thoughtfully. Hajime was thankful she had kept a straight face, as he knew that his current situation sounded so silly when said out loud that anyone else would have laughed or walked away.<p>

"That's... a problem," Chiaki said after a brief pause, looking more than a little troubled. "If we don't do something about this everyone might really start killing each other. Maybe Usami—"

"I've already talked to her. She _said _she has everything under control, but she obviously has no idea what to do," Hajime told her. He was glad that Chiaki already seemed willing to help him, though also surprised that she hadn't questioned his story at all.

"Oh." Chiaki seemed a bit disappointed. "And just getting Monokuma to turn everyone back to normal would be a little difficult, huh?"

"I think it'd be more impossible than 'a little difficult'..."

Chiaki looked towards a spot on the table, pulling the hood of her jacket up as she thought. "Hey, hey," she said suddenly, "the reason I wasn't affected by Monokuma's motive is because I wasn't there at the time, right? What about Komaeda-kun?"

"Komaeda? What about—?" Hajime's eyes widened. "Oh. _Oh."_

"Yeah." Chiaki nodded. "Komaeda-kun should be unaffected as well. I think."

Chiaki's uncertainness aside, Hajime had to admit that Nagito being spared from Monokuma's spell hadn't even crossed his mind. It made sense, however, and though Nagito was pretty unpredictable at times Hajime was willing to accept any help he could get.

Going to see Nagito seemed like the best course of action from there, before someone else entered the room and side-tracked them. They had to confirm whether Nagito really was unaffected, and if he was then his luck had picked an odd and potentially dangerous way of keeping him safe.

As the two of them stepped outside, Hajime had to note how peaceful everything seemed. Even on days where Monokuma wasn't trying to get them all killed things weren't usually so quiet, and with the direction his life seemed to be taking Hajime could only wonder if this meant something else would happen. Sure enough, the moment he and Chiaki were a few paces away from the restaurant Hajime was tackled by a black and purple blur.

"Hajime-chan!" Ibuki squealed, squeezing the life out of Hajime. "Wow! Ibuki can't believe she saw you here! It's been _such _a long time!"

"I saw you this morning." Hajime sighed, and as he tried to free himself from her grasp Ibuki jumped back and smiled at him happily.

"Yes, yes, but that was _hours _ago. Now then," Ibuki crossed her arms, nodding as if she was discussing something very serious. "Hajime-chan, Ibuki thinks it's time for the next stage of your band member training. Hope you like hot sauce!"

Hajime sent Chiaki a helpless look. While he was usually fine with Ibuki's antics, there was something much more hyper about her today and he was sure it would result in some sort of pain.

"Is it okay if Hinata-kun plays with you later?" Chiaki asked. "We're doing something important right now. Sort of."

"Important…?" Ibuki's eyes widened. "Gasp! Did Ibuki interrupt lovey-dovey time between Hajime-chan and Chiaki-chan?!"

"Nope," Chiaki said, but Ibuki didn't seem to be listening.

"Maaaaan, that's disappointing," Ibuki sighed. "Ibuki made her move too late. But Ibuki wants Hajime-chan to be happy too, so…"

"Mioda, you don't love me!" Hajime said, already utterly tired of this situation. Ibuki blinked in surprise. "Monokuma brainwashed you or cast some kind of spell or _something _and it's making you fall for me. You've got to snap out of it."

Ibuki tilted her head. "Eh? But Ibuki doesn't _feel _brainwashed. Ibuki just wants to play with Hajime-chan, like always."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Oh! Oh! Is this a new game?" Ibuki's eyes were shining. "Are we playing Monokuma Zombie Warriors?"

"That's right," Chiaki said before Hajime could object. "Monokuma's turning everyone into zombies. To win the game you need to capture Monokuma and bring him to us."

"And feed him a bottle of hot sauce," Hajime muttered. He didn't understand how Ibuki had leapt to 'zombies' from 'falling in love,' but he understood what Chiaki was trying to do and smiled at her thankfully.

"If you win, you get a date with Hinata-kun."

"Huh? Wait, Nanami—"

"Got it!" Ibuki cheered. "Don't worry, Hajime-chan, I'll catch him! I won't let him turn me into a zombie! I'll just need to get some honey and some rope. Oh, and some toothpaste." She began hurrying in the opposite direction, waving to them as she did so—then she stopped, paused, and dived into the nearest patch of shadows, out of sight.

The rest of their journey to the cottages was a hurried one, and somehow they managed to avoid any other strange encounters. Hajime knocked on the door on the door of Nagito's cottage, waited for a muffled response, and opened it to walk inside. Nagito was on his bed, lying in a position that suggested he had been staring at the ceiling in utter boredom for who knew how long, and his eyes lit up at the sight of his visitors.

"Oh, Hinata-kun and Nanami-san? What can I—?"

"Komaeda," Hajime said immediately, hurrying across the room, "do I look any different to you?"

Nagito looked a little alarmed. He stared at Hajime, as if wondering if he was being asked a trick question.

"Is… is your hair spikier?" Nagito asked, uncertain. Hajime sighed, though he wasn't entirely sure if it was out of relief.

Chiaki, who had entered the room at a slower pace and closed the door behind her, told him what was happening: how Monokuma was causing everyone who attended the party to fall in love with Hajime. Nagito listened intently, only speaking up ever speaking up to ask a question.

Hajime had hoped that someone else explaining the situation would make the problem sound less ridiculous—it didn't.

"And, if nothing is done about this then everyone could end up killing each other out of jealousy?" Nagito summarised, his expression thoughtful.

"We should be able to stop it before things get too bad. I think," Chiaki said.

"Hmm… I was wondering why Tsumiki-san seemed so distracted this morning. But wow, this is a really terrible situation!" Nagito said, smiling brightly.

"Yes. It is." Hajime could only shake his head at how cheerful Nagito seemed. "Will you help us?"

"Ah, of course. How could I refuse when you took the time to come all this way and ask?" Nagito smiled again, and Hajime resisted the urge to point out there was barely any distance between the cottages and the restaurant.

Nagito shifted so that he was sitting, but when his feet hit the floor in an attempt to stand he flinched at the sudden pressure on his ankle. Chiaki frowned.

"Komaeda-kun, should you be out of bed?"

"I'm fine," Nagito said, and as if to prove this he stood up with only a slight stumble. "Now then, we'll need to discuss how to stop Monokuma's plan. Any suggestions?"

* * *

><p>—<em>Chapter end.<em>


	6. Chapter 6

_It took me longer to update this time, huh? Sorry ^^' _

_I noticed that the past few chapters seemed to have a general formula and not much happening, and as I worried that might be getting boring for the people reading I tried to go with something a little different this time. While I still worry about out-of-characterness, in this chapter it's probably sort of necessary. Hopefully I'll be able to move the plot further along next chapter XD_

_Writing Gundham's dialogue is kind of fun ^0^_

* * *

><p>In the abandoned building by the restaurant, the door shut but not locked as the key could not be found, Kazuichi Souda turned to his audience of two people with a serious expression. Behind him was a large whiteboard he had found in the supermarket, and he had promptly scribbled smart-sounding words and pinned pictures to the board in an attempt to make the meeting seem professional. The lights had been dimmed as much as possible to add to the mood.<p>

"Right," Kazuichi tried to say with authority, "By now, you should all know why I've gathered you here—"

"We don't," Fuyuhiko interrupted from his place on the hard floor, shifting uncomfortably. "You just shoved us in here. We literally have no idea why we're here, Souda."

"Why have you summoned us to this place?" Gundham growled from a corner that somehow seemed darker than the rest of the room. He crossed his arms irritably. "You have interrupted the feeding time of the Four Dark Devas of Destruction. Should I find your answer unsatisfactory, I shall have no choice but to sever your soul from your body in order to appease them."

"Seriously?" Kazuichi gapped at them, mostly ignoring Gundham. "You guys haven't figured it out?"

"Figured out _what?" _Fuyuhiko snapped, close to anger. "If this is just something stupid, I'm leaving."

Kazuichi shuffled where he stood, under the annoyed gazes of the two he had grabbed and locked in the room. He didn't want to say it. At least, not out loud. So, instead, he wrote it. Marker pen in hand, face turning an increasing shade of red, he wrote at the top of the board, _'Meeting to figure out why Hinata suddenly looks really hot.'_

"Ah," Fuyuhiko said.

"Yeah," Kazuichi said. He pulled his hat over his eyes. "Yeah." The following silence was uncomfortable. As if defending himself, Kazuichi bristled and pointed an accusing finger at the other two. "Don't act like you haven't noticed! I saw you all staring at him too!"

Fuyuhiko's expression turned from stunned to angry and red. "Hey, I don't think Hinata's hot! I-I mean, he's not _unattractive_ but I don't— he's not—!"

"Gundham Tanaka does not _stare_," Gundham argued, glaring with the best evil overlord gaze he could muster. "I was _observing _Hinata's sudden increase in power! I shall admit that his allure has doubled, and in an alarming amount of time, but that is merely an after effect of his newly awakened strength. Whatever attraction he causes others to feel shall fade momentarily." Gundham suddenly seemed interested in hiding his face in his scarf. "I hope."

"Hah! So you admit it!"

"I admit nothing, you pink cretin!"

_"Anyway,_" Fuyuhiko interrupted, gaining the attention of Kazuichi and Gundham, "Even if I did suddenly think Hinata's hot-which I don't-it doesn't mean anything. He's probably just done something with his hair or his clothes. Well, okay, when I asked he said he hadn't, but maybe he's just trying to make it seem like it's not a big deal."

"But that's not it!" Kazuichi seemed close to panicking. "There's absolutely _nothing _different about him! His hair, his clothes, it's all the same as usual! He's just Hinata! He's just the usual, supportive, caring, amazing Hinata..." He ended his words with a blissful sigh that was reserved for his rambles about Sonia. His eyes widened, and he slapped himself as Fuyuhiko and Gundham watched awkwardly.

"I've been thinking about him all day!" Kazuichi groaned. "This can't just be me, okay? It just can't. I love Sonia-san—she's the only one for me—and it doesn't make sense that I'd suddenly start acting like this because of a _guy._ Unless..." His gaze fell on Gundham, and he glared at the breeder with sudden suspicion. "I bet this is your fault. You've brainwashed me. You usually act all high and mighty, talking to Sonia-san all the time just because of those damn hamsters, but really you saw me as a threat. You couldn't handle the idea that I might win her over one day, so now you've cast some weird spell to make me like Hinata."

Gundham blinked at him, stunned. "Why would I waste my power on something so petty? And to you, mortal, they are the Four Dark Devas of Destruction! Do you wish to summon the wrath of these bloodthirsty demons upon you?"

One of the 'bloodthirsty demons' poked its head out from his scarf. It crawled across the fabric until it reached his shoulder, promptly falling asleep.

_Spell. _Fuyuhiko frowned to himself, ignoring the arguing of the other two. Didn't that sound familiar? From the edge of his memory, the vague image of a bear against pink light took form. That happened at the party, didn't it? It seemed odd that he was having such trouble remembering something that only happened the night before.

He had no chance to fully grasp the memory. The moment he tried, when he began to realise that the bear-like shape looked suspiciously like Monokuma, different thoughts filled his head. Hajime. Hajime Hajime Hajime Hajime Hajime _Hajime. _Fuyuhiko would have staggered had he been standing. A warm feeling rose in his chest, something he had only ever felt around one other person.

He stood, turning to the door. This action didn't go unnoticed, both Kazuichi and Gundham catching the movement and looking at him.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Kazuichi's tone was accusing. "This meeting isn't finished yet, you know."

"How are you still calling this a meeting?" Fuyuhiko shook his head. "I'm going to see Hinata, all right?"

It was as if someone had flipped a switch. Kazuichi's expresion turned almost angry, Gundham's face having a similar transformation.

"Hey, no fair!" Kazuichi said. "_I _was going to see Hinata after this!"

Jealousy flared along with other irritated feelings in response to Kazuichi's words, all because of the name 'Hinata.' A small, rational part of Fuyuhiko's brain told him he was being ridiculous, that there was no reason to be angry, but emotion had filled his mind and drowned out any contradicting voices.

"Yeah? Well I said it first. Besides, what makes you think Hinata wants to see _you_?"

Gundham chuckled, interrupting Kazuichi before he could retort. "How foolish. You have both overlooked something fatal to your desires. Hinata has already agreed to speak with _me _at a later time—he wishes to see neither of you!"

And so, a meeting consisting of three people errupted into chaos.

* * *

><p><em>—Chapter end.<em>


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